On the evening of April 18, 2024, police in Lansing, Michigan, were called to a home where they made a grim discovery. Jason McKenzie, a 50-year-old white man, and his cousin, 53-year-old Christine Cambric, were found shot to death at the bottom of the basement stairs in a residence in the 500 block of Woodrow Avenue. The incident, which authorities quickly described as a double homicide stemming from a domestic situation, sent a shockwave through the community.
The investigation
immediately focused on Dennis Joshua Whaley, 51, who lived at the home with Cambric. A witness reported hearing yelling between Whaley and Cambric before five or six gunshots rang out. Whaley was then seen driving away in Cambric’s car. This triggered a multi-day search that ended on the night of April 21, when Whaley contacted a Michigan State Police detective to turn himself in. He was arrested without incident in a wooded area in Crego Park and later led officers to the 5.56-caliber rifle used in the killings.
Whaley was charged with two counts of open murder, three counts of felony firearm possession, and one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon. He was held at the Ingham County Jail without bond. In his initial statement to police, Whaley claimed he shot McKenzie in self-defense, alleging McKenzie was coming at him. He stated that Cambric was shot accidentally when McKenzie pulled her in front of the rifle. "I killed the love of my life, and I've been dealing with that for three days," he told a detective.
Prosecutors presented a different motive at trial. They revealed that four days before the shooting, Whaley had sent an angry message to McKenzie’s girlfriend, complaining that the cousins were acting “like they are a couple.” In the message, Whaley threatened to “off” McKenzie and wrote, “I’m losing my shit and I’m about to snap.”
In September 2025, Dennis Whaley stood trial before Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Wanda Stokes. Taking the stand in his own defense, Whaley changed his story, testifying that the shootings were entirely accidental and happened when McKenzie grabbed the barrel of the rifle, causing it to fire. The jury rejected his account and convicted him of murder. In December 2025, Judge Stokes sentenced Whaley to a minimum of 35 years and 4 months in prison for the murders of Jason McKenzie and Christine Cambric.
